WHEN BILL AND Mary Lee Lamar-Dixon decided to share their love of the equestrian lifestyle with the Ascension Parish community, the result was a multimillion-dollar facility. Now officially owned by the parish and in operation for 15 years, the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center can accommodate much more than horses and their owners.

Renovated facilities on the 250-acre property in Gonzales contain all the amenities to host large meetings, business expos, conventions, conferences, company picnics and even wedding receptions. Historically used for showing swine, the 65,000-square-foot 4-H building is now fully enclosed and climate-controlled. The spacious, open area features a large lobby, three breakout rooms, a fully equipped concession and restrooms. With the ability to be divided in half, the 4-H building can fit 6,000 people standing or 4,000 seated.

The adjacent Trademart building is also enclosed and climate-controlled with 24,000 square feet of available space. Flanked by a pair of silos, this area is multifunctional and can also be divided in half, while containing concessions, restrooms and freight doors.

Both facilities offer Wi-Fi and are tied into a public address system, but event organizers are welcome to bring their own audiovisual and other equipment to make best use of the space.

An Acadian-style chapel on the property includes a full sound system and dressing rooms, seating up to 175 people for weddings, which it hosts almost every weekend. Lamar-Dixon also hosts annual events such as the LSU State Livestock Show, Louisiana Sportsman Show, Swamp Pop Music Festival and Ascension Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Plenty of concrete parking and a great location make Lamar-Dixon’s facilities easy to access.

“We are very convenient to Interstate-10, right off of exit 177, so people can pop in and pop out,” says Sales & Marketing Manager Martin McConnell. “If you want to have a major event here, there are 18 hotels right in our near vicinity. We have RV camping on site, so not only can we accommodate your event, we can accommodate the people coming to the event.”

Situated near the lake, the RV parking area offers both 30 and 50 amp spaces, along with utilities, Wi-Fi and two restroom/shower facilities.
Lamar-Dixon is also in an ideal location to draw from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but McConnell says plans for the future involve getting the word out both regionally and nationally.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for larger shows to come, especially now that we have 90,000 square feet of air-conditioned space with over 1,000 hotel rooms in the vicinity,” he adds. “Lamar-Dixon is such a multipurpose venue. We’ve got groups and organizations and companies that will hold their annual crawfish boils and picnics out here, we’ve got weddings, we’ve got industrial trade shows, festivals, 5-K runs. There’s just so many things that can be done out here.”